RUI: Evolutionary Relationships within the Neotropical Frog Genus Leptodactylus

RUI：新热带蛙属细指蛙内的进化关系

• 批准号: 9815787
• 负责人: Rafael de Sá
• 金额: $ 20万
• 依托单位: University of Richmond
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 1999
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 1999-08-01 至 2004-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=9815787&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: RUI; Evolutionary; Relationships; within; Neotropical

9815787 De Sa Our planet is currently experiencing an alarming rate of species disappearance, commonly referred to as the 'Biodiversity Crisis.' An example of this is the observance of decline in frog population density around the world, and hence the increased possibility of species extinction. It is urgent that biologists understand why this is happening. To address this we must first know how many species are living currently. Furthermore, we must assess the historical relationships among existing species if we are to understand the factors contributing to their origin and current distributions.The present proposal is to decipher relationships in a large group of South and Central American frogs, the genus Leptodactylus. This group of frogs includes about 70 species in four lineages. We know the four lineages were already present and differentiated from each other about 65-70 million years ago, but we do not know the relationships within or among the groups. These frogs exhibit an array of different reproductive strategies that undoubtedly has contributed to their success and survival over the last several million years. Deciphering the relationships among these frogs represents the first step to understanding the history of their reproductive strategies.We will use a variety of molecular techniques with the purpose of collecting genetic data (DNA sequences) to assess relationships. The genetic data will be integrated with previously available and newly gathered morphological data. The project is designed to give undergraduate science students the opportunity to learn molecular techniques, morphological methodologies, and statistical models within a participatory creative process of scientific inquiry.

9815787 De Sa我们的星球目前正在经历物种消失的惊人速度，通常被称为“生物多样性危机”。“这方面的一个例子是观察到世界各地的青蛙种群密度下降，因此物种灭绝的可能性增加。 生物学家迫切需要了解为什么会发生这种情况。 要解决这个问题，我们必须首先知道目前有多少物种。 此外，我们必须评估现有物种之间的历史关系，如果我们要了解它们的起源和目前的分布的因素，目前的建议是破译的关系，在一个大组的南美洲和中美洲的青蛙，属Leptodactylus。 这组青蛙包括四个谱系中的大约70个物种。 我们知道这四个谱系在大约6500万至7000万年前就已经存在并相互分化，但我们不知道这些群体内部或群体之间的关系。 这些青蛙表现出一系列不同的繁殖策略，毫无疑问，这些策略有助于它们在过去几百万年的成功和生存。 破解这些青蛙之间的关系是了解它们繁殖策略历史的第一步。我们将使用各种分子技术收集遗传数据（DNA序列）来评估关系。 遗传数据将与以前可用的和新收集的形态数据相结合。 该项目的目的是让本科理科学生有机会学习分子技术，形态学方法和统计模型在科学探究的参与性创造性过程。